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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Eye of the Tiger

GreetingsTBB fans. I just couldn't wait for Lisa and my typical joint blog on Friday during lunch to post this piece of information! Drum roll please! On Friday night, Barry Zito finally won his first game of the season. While I'd like to pretend that I am annoyed at this recent phenomenon (I wasn't too fond of that "woe is me" attitude he had been sportin' last season and his pitching these past two seasons has been deplorable...especially taking into consideration his high salary and the fact that he's a former Cy Young Award winner), I am so happy (and relieved)! He showed signs of his former Athletics self during his last two starts and I had begun to develop a bit of sympathy for him and his no decisions (and not to mention, his 0-2 record).

Zitopitched 6 innings, allowing 8 hits and giving up 2 walks, only surrendering 1 run. The Giants defeated Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers 3-1. I sincerely hope this is a sign of things to come for the remainder of Zito's season. No more whiny baby crap. No more comments on ESPN and other media outlets about how he is an overpaid has been. No more boos (I am slightly ashamed to admit that I've been one of the booers these last few months). I'd like to see him last longer than 6 innings (during his last 2 starts, he pitched through 7), but these days with the strict pitch counts, 6 innings is a solid outing. His next start is against the Nationals at AT&T Park on Wednesday, May 13th. The Nationals aren't the strongest opponent, so hopefully, Zito'srejuvenated pitching will continue. He has finally brought his ERA down to 3.57 and if he can get his record to .500, it will be a vast improvement over last year's start. If he and his fellow Cy Young Award buddies (Johnson and Lincecum) can maintain momentum throughout the remainder of the year, the Giants pitching rotation will be a force to reckon with. Now...if only the Giants offense could step it up. They're practically anemic. Perhaps iron supplements would prove beneficial? I mean, as much as I complain about the Yankees, I'll admit that the offense is good for 5 runs at least once a series.

Which brings me to my final thought of the evening. I do not care how many home runs or hits in the clutch he comes up with, I will never love Johnny Damon. He just rubs me the wrong way...even before he joined the Red Sox (so none of you try to turn that one around on me! My hatred for him does not stem from his caveman days playing centerfield for the Sox). I am completely flabbergasted by the fact that we didn't re-sign Bernie Williams because "his arm was too weak" and he was "losing a step in center field" and yet, we replace him with a man who can't reach the cut off man! For pete's sake, I have a better arm than he does! Thank goodness, he doesn't play center field anymore! Him just being in the outfield is enough to give me a brain aneurysm. Today before the game, Michael Kay mentioned to Damon that if he continues hitting the way he has been, he has potential to hit 40 home runs this year. Damon's response? "I hope so" because then the Yankees will re-sign him. There are a few problems I have with this answer. The first one being that you should not be performing well just to get or maintain a job. You should want to do well for yourself or else why do it all? The second and most important is that I've been waiting for us to have an opportunity to get rid of that fool for years and he better not screw this up for me. I need him to leave so that we can accommodate more Brett Gardners and MelkyCabreras in our line up. No more overpriced weenies, please! Young and aggressive players with heart need only apply!

Oh and one more thing: Happy Mother's Day, mommies of the world! Nick Swisher said it best today when he thanked his mother. After all she, "gave him life." Classic. I really do adore that charming and quirky man. For heaven's sake, his latest Twitter message is, "I love you Mom!" I just can't take how cute he is.

For Barry Zito, I will close this blog with these words, written and performed by the highly esteemed group, Survivor: "...so many times, it happens too fast. You change your passion for glory. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive. It's the eye of the tiger (or Lou the Seal?), it's the cream of the fight rising up to the challenge of our rival. And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night and he's watching us all in the eye of the tiger." You know you're reading this right now humming the beat to the song. Perhaps even showing a little fist pump here and there. You go, Barry.

Side note: Dammit. Jason Varitek just broke the tie against the Rays with an RBI double. What is with the C on his shirt? That is so hockey, not baseball. Unless of course, it's a reminder to him that he is the team's catcher. If that's the case, then I completely understand. It's kind of like the equivalent to my post-its.